As long as s/he likes to learn chess and likes to play chess, 1, 2, or 3 hours are all fine. If s/he does not like to play chess, then 0 hour. Of course, the more time s/he puts in, the more s/he could achieve.

There is no genius in this world. All chess kids are smart. If you expect your child spends 10 minutes a day on chess and wins the national, you are dreaming. You can either find excuses for your child (and yourself) or help your child find time. There is no third way.

When I first taught chess, I had a student who couldn't stand losing to his classmates. He was so afraid of losing that he could not play in classroom at all. If he didn't play, of course he would not improve. Then he could never win.

So I gave him a challenge, playing on chesskid.com against other kids. I told him: "You don't know them, so don't worry, losing was not that bad. I don't care about results, winning or losing. In fact, I want you to lose. I want you lose 100 games first. I will give you a prize when you reach the goal".

Initially he still played very few games. Every week I reminded him the 100-loss goal. Slowly he got into the habit, losing more games every week. After couple of weeks, after losing 40-some games, he began to have some wins. He could no longer continue his loss stream. Winning games shown up more and more, and he became more confident to play. In half a year, he started to play in tournaments.

Because school year starts at fall, a lot of parents consider chess as a new activity for their kids. In fact, this is the best approach.

We all know chess is not a short term activity. You can't expect anything by just signing up for a few weeks. In fact, each of my Steps lasts for a school year. We start with basic workbook, more exercises with extra workbook, and additional topics with plus workbook. After one school year, students will finish at least 1000 problems. We can consider to move them to the next step. Some students may continue with more chess classes in summer.

Many students will continue their chess study for the whole school year. If you try to get in in winter and if you are lucky to get in, you will have missed the lessons for basic theory and one-third of material. If you try to get in in spring, most likely I will suggest you wait for next year, or go to lower step. The additional topics would be too difficult if you never had earlier lessons.

Of course, any time to start chess is good and not late. But to reap the greatest benefit, please consider chess in fall, maybe even begin to think about it in late summer. When the fall quarter starts, most seats are already gone. More than half of my classes are full before we kick off the first lesson.

As a coach, I teach at both after-school clubs and at my own chess school. As a parent, I send my children to both after-school clubs and some classes outside school. I can tell you there are big difference between the two.

First, different student groups. At after-school clubs, the students are (in)volunteering to attend the clubs. The parents have difficulty to pick the children, so they just want to find some interesting or meaningful activity for their children. The children may or may not like chess. They have very little motivation to improve. For classes at chess school, it's the opposite. The students are self-selected. They want to learn and they want to improve. If your child wants to learn chess, which environment you want him/her in?

Second, most after-school clubs are just one quarter or at most one year. The teachers know their assignments are just 6, 8, or 10 weeks. They don't have long term vision. It's just a short term assignment. So they don't have any plan. Every quarter, they just repeat the material. They don't and can't care much about students' progress.

Third, when everyone has very low target, students have little motivation, and teachers are just fulfilling the contract, what can we expect? Most after-school clubs will always have beginners. Anyone who gets better will leave the club, because they don't want to waste any time anymore. This is a reality we have to face. Until the school is treating chess as part of curriculum, our children have to move on their chess study to outside chess schools.